Safety razor



Nov. 19, 1935. wi sgN 2,021,344

SAFETY RAZOR Filed March 11, 1953 buuuuuuuuumu/n fi a zI/lornryaPatented Nov. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY RAZOR EmmettWilson, Los Angeles, Calif. Application March 11, 1933, Serial No.660,334 10 Claims. (01. 30-44) My invention relates to safety razors andhas die, a blade, a guard and a shaft to produce the particularreference to safety razors of the type razor in accordance with myinvention.

employing a blade which is reciprocated to pro- Other objects andadvantages will be apparent duce a cutting motion of the blade upon thefrom a study of the following specifications, read beard. in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, 5

One of the objects of my invention is to prowherein vide a safety razorhaving a novel and simple Figure 1 is a rear, elevational view of arazor means for vibrating the razor or vibrating the constructed inaccordance with my invention; blade therein in the direction of itscutting edge Figure 2 is a vertical, sectional view, taken therebyfacilitating a shaving, reducing the force along line II--II of Fig. 1;and 10 or pull upon the skin and hair or whiskers and Figure 3 is adetail, sectional view taken along increasing the life of the cuttingedge of the line IIIIII of Fig. 2. blade. Referring to the drawing, Ihave illustrated my Another object of the invention is to provide razoras comprising a handle l which is prefera safety razor in which theblade is vibrated or ably of tubu r Construction, having a central 15reciprocated by means set in motion manually bore 2 extendinglongitudinally thereof, the hanwhich means is accessible at all timesand which dle being formed with a guard-plate 3 upon the does notinterfere with the normal use of the upper end thereof, which may beformed interazor. grally with the handle I or may be formed as Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a a separate piece and attachedthereto as desired. 20 means of this class whereby extreme 'high rates Asuitable guard 4 is preferably pivoted, as of vibration or reciprocationof the blade may indicated at 5, at one side of the guard-plate 3, beobtained. the" opposite end 6 of the guard being arranged Another objectof the invention is to provide to engage and be detachably secured tothe opa means of this class whereby the relatively high posite end ofthe guard-plate 3. 25 rate of Vibration or reciprocation of the blademay By referring particularly to Figure 2, it will be be maintained overa continued period of time observed that the guard-plate 3 is providedwith required for one shave. a recess 1 extending longitudinally of theplate Another object of the invention is to provide to form the uppersurface of the guard-plate with a razor of this class from which theblade may a pair of bearing surfaces 8 and 9 near the upper 30 beremoved and another substituted as quickly and lower edges of the plate,the bearing surfaces and easily as in the safety razors now in use.constituting a bearing support for a blade l0 per- Another object of theinvention is to provide mitting the blade to be reciprocated longitudiarazor of this class in which the several operatnally of the plate 3;that is, along the line at right ing parts are so arranged as not tointerfere with angles to the axis of the handle I. The lower 35 theready gripping of the razor and the maniside edge of the guard-plate 3is preferably propulation thereof during the shaving operation. videdwith a series of recesses formed therein, as

Another object of the invention is to provide indicated at II, toconstitute a serrated guard.

a razor of this class which is economical of con- By referring partculafly to Figure 3, it wi l be struction, durable, and which will notreadily ob ervedthat the guard-plate 3 is provided with 0 deteriorate orget out of m a pair of upstanding posts I2 and I3 near the Anotherobject is the provision of a razor havends of the plate to engageSuitable elongated ing a bladereciprocably mounted upon the head gi 2 g?3 19 3? 2 3 i g g igig i d w 1c s o s i 1 e i and arranged to beTeclprocated by means of assist in supporting the blade and holding the45 i iz f? i z haniue of h Same in place while it is reciprocated.

a i a P0 0 W 011 away 0 expose The hollow handle is illustrated asconstituting the shaft or stem so that it may be engaged by the housingfor a Spindle or haft l5 extending a suitable device for impartingrotary movement through the longitudinal bore 2, th upper d thereto- Iof the bore being reduced as at I6 to receive a 50 Another oblect 0f thelnvention is t0 provide bushing bearing l1 therein constituting thebeara safety razor of the type describ d in the preceding for the upperend It! of the spindle or shaft p l p in which the number of parts l5.The lower end of the spindle or shaft I5 is employed in constructing therazor is reduced to illustrated as being formed with a pin bearing theminimum, there being required only a hanl9 engageable in a suitable pinbearing seat 20 55 formed upon or secured to a closure plate 2|constituting the closure plate for the lower end of the handle I.

It will be observed that the lower end of the handle I is flaredoutwardly, as indicated at 22, to form a chamber 23 surrounding aflywheel 24 rigidly secured to the spindle I5. The flywheel ispreferably formed of any suitable material having suitable mass and ispreferably formed with the greater portion of the mass thereof arrangednear the periphery of the flywheel so that the moment of inertia of theflywheel is relatively great as compared to the actual mass of the totalflywheel.

Intermediate the upper and lower ends of the shaft I5, I provide aknurled surface 25 thereon, the knurled surface being preferably oflarger diameter than the diameter of the shaft, although this is notessential, the important feature being that the knurled surface shouldbe of sufficient dimensions to be readily engaged by any friction deviceso that rotary motion may be imparted to the shaft, I5.

It will be observed from an inspection of Figures 1 and 2 that thehandle I, adjacent the knurled portion of the shaft I5 is cut away, asindicated at 25, to form a recess through which the knurled surface isexposed and the recess 26 is preferably of. such extent as to expose aconsiderable area of the knurled surface 25 to engagement by aninstrument which may be inserted through the recess. For example, Iprefer that the arrangement be such that a cord, rope, strip of rubber,or other suitable friction material, may be held taut in the manner ofthe usual razor strop and that the exposed knurled section of the shaftmay be placed into engagement with said taut cord or strop so thatdrawing the razor over the cord or strop with the shaft at substantiallyright angles to the direction of movement of the razor over the strop,will cause the shaft to berotated.

By rapidly drawing the razor over such strop or cord a number of timeswith the strop engaging the knurled portion of the shaft. through therecess 26, a rapid rotary movement may be impartedto the shaft, whichmovement, I have found in practice, to be sufiicient to cause theinertia of theifiywheel to keep the shaft rotating for a relatively longperiod of time, from 5 to minutes.

The upper end of the shaft I5 is provided with any suitable means forconnecting the same with the razor blade If] so that rotary motion ofthe shaft I5 will impart a reciprocating motion to the blade. I preferthat this connection be made merely by forming an eccentric end 21 uponthe upper end of the shaft I 5 so that the eccentric 21 engages anelongated slot 28 near the center of the blade. Thus rotation of theshaft about its axis will cause the eccentric 21 to move the blade tothe right and to the left, as viewed in Figure 3. Thus the rotary motionof the blade, which continues as hereinbefore stated for a period offrom 5 to 10 minutes, will impart a reciprocating motion of likeduration to the blade and it is found in practice that such motion,enduring for this length of time, usually is sufficient for one completeshave, though in the event that the duration. of the movement is notsuflicient, additional movement may be imparted to the blade merely bydrawing the razor again over the cord or strop employed to rotate theshaft.

It will be observed that the pin bearing I9, at the lower end of theshaft, constitutes a bearing of relatively low friction, while the upperend of the shaft is supported in the bearing bushing I1 which may be,and preferably is, provided with beveled upper and lower surfaces, asindicated at 29, so that a relatively small area of contact is providedbetween this bushing and the bearing portion of the shaft. Thusrelatively slight friction occurs 5 between the upper end of the shaftand its bearme.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited toany of 10 the details of construction shown herein, except as defined inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a razor construction, a handle having a tubular bore extendinglongitudinally therethrough, a head formed upon one end of said handle,a blade reciprocably mounted upon said head for movement in a directionat right angles to the axis of said bore, means for reciprocating saidblade including a shaft extending through said bore and connected tosaid blade, a recess in said handle extending partially around said boreand communicating with said bore to expose a portion of said shaft,friction means on said shaft at said exposed portion for engagement by afriction device to apply rotary movement to said shaft, and a flywheelon said shaft.

2. In a safety razor, a handle having a bore extending longitudinallythereof, a recess through the side of said handle communicating with theinterior bore thereof, a head formed upon one end of said handle, ablade reciprocably mounted upon said head for movement in a direction atright angles to the axis of said bore, a shaft extending coaxiallythrough said bore, means coupling said shaft to said blade forreciprocating said blade by rotation of said shaft, friction means onsaid shaft aligned with said recess whereby said friction means may beengaged by a friction device exteriorly of said handle to impart rotarymovement to said shaft and a flywheel on said shaft.

3. In a safety razor, a handle having a bore extending longitudinallythereof, a recess through the side of said handle communicating with theinterior bore thereof, a head formed upon one end of said handle, ablade reciprocably mounted upon said head for movement in a direction atright angles to the axis of said bore, a shaft extending coaxiallythrough said bore, means coupling said shaft to said blade forreciprocating said blade by rotation of said shaft, a portion of saidshaft being exposed through said recess for engagement with a frictionstrop to impart rotary movement to said shaft, means on said shaft atsaid exposed portion for frictionally engaging said friction means and aflywheel on said shaft. 4. In a safety razor, a handle member having atubular bore extending longitudinally therethrough, a razor bladesupporting head formed upon one end of said handle member, a bladereciprocally mounted upon said head for movement in a direction at rightangles to the axis of said bore, means for reciprocating said bladeincluding a shaft extending through said bore and connected to saidblade, a recess in said handle member extending partially around saidbore and communicating with said bore to expose a portion of said shaftfor engagement by a friction device to apply rotary motion to saidshaft, an enlargement of said handle member at the end thereof oppositesaid head, and a fly wheel on said shaft housed within said enlargementof said handle member.

5. In a safety razor, a head, a blade reciprocally mounted upon saidhead, a hollow handle member extending from said head, a shaft having afly wheel thereon rotatably mounted within said hollow handle member andextending through said head in engagement with said blade, meanscoupling said blade to said shaft for reciprocating said blade byrotation of said shaft, a recess in said hollow handle member extendingpartially around said shaft to expose a portion of said shaft forengagement by a friction device for imparting rotary movement to saidshaft.

6. In a safety razor, a frame comprising, a head and a hollow handlemember extending from one side of the head, a blade reciprocally mountedon said head, a shaft rotatably mounted in the handle member, meanseccentrically connecting said shaft with the blade for reciprocating thelatter with the rotation of the shaft, a fly wheel mounted on the shaft,said shaft having a portion exposed through said handle member forengagement by a friction device for imparting rotary movement to saidshaft.

7. In a safety razor, a frame comprising, a hollow handle having a headpositioned transversely at one end thereof and provided at its oppositeend with an enlarged casing portion, a

, shaft rotatably mounted within the hollow handle, a blade reciprocallymounted on the head, eccentric means connecting the shaft with theblade, a fly wheel mounted on the shaft and positioned within the casingportion, there being provided at the outer side of the fly wheel andcoaxial with the shaft a bearing portion, and a cap secured to the outerside of the casing portion and provided with means cooperating with thebearing portion for centering the extended end of the shaft.

8. In a safety razor, a head, a blade reciprocally mounted on said head,a hollow handle member extending from said head, a shaft having a flywheel thereon and the whole rotatably mounted within said hollow handle,means cou- 5 pling said blade tosaid shaft for reciprocating said bladeby rotation of said shaft, and means in connection with said shaft tofacilitate the manual rotation of said shaft.

9. In a safety razor, a head, a blade reciprocally mounted on said head,a handle extending from said head and having a longitudinal boreextending therethrough communicating with said head, a shaft rotatablymounted in said bore and extending into said head, means on the end ofsaid shaft projecting into said head for eccentrically engaging saidblade to impart reciprocal motion to said blade upon rotation. of saidshaft,

a fly wheel on said shaft at a point remote from said blade engaging endthereof and positioned in said handle, and means in connection with saidshaft to facilitate the manual rotation of said shaft.

10. In a safety razor, ahead, a blade reciprocally mounted on said head,a hollow handle extending from said head, a shaft having a fly Wheelthereon and the whole rotatably mounted within said hollow handle, meanscoupling said blade to said shaft for reciprocating said blade byrotation of said shaft, and means in conneotion with said shaft forengagement with manual rotating means through an opening in the side ofsaid handle and operable by the application of force in a direction atright angles to the axis of said shaft.

EMMETT WILSON.

